Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Today is Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that celebrates Mexico's Independence in the Battle of Puebla over the French as well a day that celebrates Mexican heritage and pride. During Cinco de Mayo, Mexicans generally celebrate with music, bright costumes and delicious food. Some food that is enjoyed on this day is a Mexican soup called Menudo that is cooked for hours with tripe, hominy and chili, garlic and various spices. There are also soups like Chili Verde, stew made with green chili sauce and Posole, a soup that is made with pork or chicken and hominy in a light broth. For my Cinco de Mayo soup, I wanted to create a variation of some of these classic recipes and with my own recipe for the holiday. I decided to use pork as the base that I let cook for over 4 hours (I really wanted it to be tender) and some spices (jalapeno, chilies). I also tried to make it semi-healthy by adding in black beans, carrots, celery, corn and red peppers. As the soup/stew was cooking, the aromatic creation was delightfully filling up my kitchen with the most amazing smells and I loved tasting this soup as I went and adjusting the flavors by adding in various spices. I made the soup pretty hot, but the recipe can be easily adjusted by adding less chili powder and using half of the jalapeno. I hope you celebrate Cinco de Mayo with some new soup recipes or try some of the classics that Mexicans have been loving for years. Enjoy!

Directions:
Cut up the onions and garlic and add them to the pan with the oil. Let cook and get slightly brown. Add the pork and the cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper and the jalapeno and let cook for about 20 minutes, flipping the pork when needed. Add some water, about 2 cups, and cover. Check on the pork periodically but I let it cook for about 3 hours. When ready, shred the pork with a knife and add the beans, corn, carrots, celery and some more water to the pan. Cover and let cook for another hour. Squeeze some lime in the soup and taste. Enjoy!